TV Review: The Walking Dead Season Six Episode 14 “Twice as Far”

by Sherry Lipp

Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

A bad moon is rising on The Walking Dead, but it’s taking its time. We know Negan is on the way, but he has yet to be seen. He’s been spoken about and we’ve met many of his followers, but the man himself is an enigma. At this point he only exists as legend, but his presence is drawing ever closer.

Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC

“Twice as Far” was a solid episode that did a good job of building character relationships. In fact I don’t know that it really needed a “shocking death” at the end. What worked best in this episode was the interplay between the characters. We don’t usually see Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Rosita (Christian Serratos) teaming up and we certainly haven’t seen Daryl spending time with Denise (Merritt Weaver). It was cool to see a different dynamic between characters that don’t usually talk to each other.

It’s unfortunate that the show can’t seem to hang on to new characters. Do they really not have a place in the overall story arc? Is it just an easy way for the show to hang on to the popular character, even when they don’t seem to contribute much to the story these days? I mean how much would we really miss Michonne (Danai Gurira)? She hardly ever gets do anything cool, or anything at all for that matter.

Even though I know we’re heading for yet another bad buy, I’m still hoping for a big shake up that will push things in a new direction. The world needs to move forward a little bit. How much roaming and maniacs do we need?

The cool and not so cool this week:

The cool:

Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC

The Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) and Eugene (Josh McDermitt) bromance: I’m so glad these two are back together. I can’t get enough of their rapport.

Eugene takes charge: For a spit second I thought Eugene really hated Abraham that much, but of course he had a plan – or at least an idea. I don’t know that someone could really get a hold of anything while biting the crotch of someone’s jeans in that position, but we’ll just go with it. It was out of left field at least.

Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC

We learn a little more about Denise: She’s an interesting character that brings a little something different to the show. Oh wait.

The not so cool:

They kill off the new side characters too quickly: It’s like they’re trying to keep everything the same. Every time a new element is introduced it’s done away with way too quickly and everything goes back to the way it was. I don’t know why we can’t keep some of the new people around longer so they have a chance to add to the story.

Smoking: Carol (Melissa McBride) started smoking. Why? I know Daryl has smoked before, but what was with the fetishizing of it in this episode? It’s totally unnecessary and adds nothing. There are other ways they can show the state of mind of the characters besides that.

Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC

Final thoughts: Carol takes off. I’m not sure what to make of that. My first thought was that she was going to try to take matters into her own hands and confront Negan. That seems pretty foolhardy, but I don’t know that I buy that she’s just doesn’t want to be involved. I know she’s been feeling guilty about everything she’s had to do, but leaving to do her own thing seems extreme.